The Apprentice
by cielchat
Summary: Set after the fourth war. Sakura has some knack for having Hokages as teachers, and she has a different name for all of them. Kakashi was Sensei. Tsunade was Shishou. Tobirama...she wasn't sure what to call him yet, but it certainly wouldn't be simple.
1. Chapter 1

The water crashed back down and sent waves over the tiny pond.

**It's not going to work, you've tried it, what, eight times?**

_I still have half my chakra left. We can still do it._

Sakura prepared the seals for the Water Dragon release when a voice spoke behind her.

"You're using too much water."

She turned and immediately recognized the man lounging on the rock- if lounging could describe his deadly relaxed stance.

"Nidaime-sama!"

"You need to use the minimum amount of water, or else it grows too heavy and sucks up all your chakra. You have good chakra control. Use that to create a vortex within the dragon so that it has a strong frame, but no excess weight inside. When it hits, it should act like a drill."

Sakura stared at him, split between absorbing and checking over the new information and gaping at the fact that the second Hokage was practically training her.

Frowning slightly at her, the man gestured at the pond behind her in a clear indication that she should probably give it another attempt now. Embarrassment flooded Sakura as she did so, but it left as quickly as a perfect Water Dragon arose from the surface of the pond. Delighted, she sent it at a nearby boulder and smiled when the rock cracked.

"Good," the Second said, coming up to stand beside her. "Now try two, and have them combat each other."

Although Sakura knew better to stare in disbelief, inwardly she trembled a little. _Two? I just managed one!_

Gathering her chakra – it was a relief that the proper form of the jutsu used less chakra than her previous attempts did- she split it and sent the two halves to funnel up water. Controlling them individually was a challenge, as Sakura soon found out when she had them face each other, but once they started destroying each other it was easier to manage the quickly disappearing water.

The dead Hokage knelt by the water and performed his own Water Dragon Jutsu that was significantly bigger than Sakura's. "Keep the chakra in the dragon spinning fast in order for it to hold its form and deliver a more powerful attack. The dragon should not fall apart." His dragon struck at the previously cracked rock and practically decimated it, the water not stopping until all that was left was gravel.

Sakura stood gaping at the rocks, barely noticing the Nidaime turn to leave until he called to her.

"Walk with me, Kunoichi."

It was not until they exited the trees surrounding the pond and stepped onto the meadow path that he spoke again.

"You are the Fifth's apprentice? Haruno Sakura, if I recall correctly."

Sakura bobbed her head, mildly pleased that he recognized her. "Yes I am."

"Is your chakra water natured?"

"Yes, but I've never learned water jutsu before. It's just been medical jutsu and chakra enhanced strength. I just thought maybe I should know a few ninjutsu techniques for good measure."

"And genjutsu?"

"I've trained myself to not get caught in them and to dispel all but Sharingan cast ones, but I don't normally try to set any, sir."

He finally turned his head and looked at her, interest piqued. "Really… That is a formidable task, Haruno-san."

"I've always been able to detect genjutsu for some reason." She said, remembering the chunin exams.

"Do you mind if I set a genjutsu on you? It will not entail pain, I promise."

That surprised Sakura, it really did. The Second Hokage was taking a very large interest in her. "Oh, umm, sure. If you want."

"Thank you." His fur shifted as he brought his hands up in a seal and muttered "Genjutsu: Bringer of Darkness Technique."

Everything disappeared and Sakura was left in complete night. Startled, she brought a hand up to her eyes, almost expecting to find something covering them, but nothing was there. She could not see her hand either, and that scared her.

In fact, if she hadn't been warned beforehand, Sakura would probably be huddled on the ground in a nervous wreck right now. As it was, she was only extremely concerned. And freaked out.

Kneeling, she felt around where the ground should exist. Luckily, the genjutsu did not inhibit her touch and there was plenty of grass to knot her fingers in. Screwing her eyes shut, not that it made a difference, Sakura imagined the meadow as it should look, with blue skies and buttercups, and poured chakra into her brain, snapping the barrier that held the genjutsu in place. Light flooded through her eyelids, and she stood shakily to see the field as it had been.

"Impressive."

"Thank you, sir."

"You can stop calling me sir."

"Yes, Hokage-dono."

A hint of a grin crossed the Nidaime's lips as he turned back onto the path that led to the village.  
"What position do you hold in the hospital, Haruno?"

"Third in command, Hokage-dono."

"You can stop calling me Hokage-dono."

"Yes, Nidaime-sama."

The two walked back to the village at a civilian pace, talking of village leadership and jutsus and proper addresses while the sun set.  
…

"So I'm not entire sure I understand. How does Edo-tensei provide the summoned person with an exact copy of his or her preferred armour or clothing?" Sakura inquired, holding the door open for the Nidaime.

"Likely the same way every person in this universe wears the exact same thing day after day, only changing for certain events or during time skips."

"Point well taken. Tea?"

"Yes, please. Haruno, your apartment is horrifically lacking in traps."

"How do you even know that? You've been inside all of one minute!" Sakura called from the kitchen, and came out with a tea set tottering in her arms. "What if my traps are too subtle for you to comprehend?"

"You have one genjustsu over each window that has two weak points for a jounin level nin and nine for any Sharingan bearer. Your physical traps include stacks of books rigged to fall, trip wire, and fly paper."

Sakura blinked and dropped a teacup on the carpet. "…Maybe…."

"It is a good thing I invented a village surveillance system to keep an eye out for people breaking into houses, yes?"

"Naruto managed to memorize the camera routine and avoid it when he was seven. Sugar?"

The Nidaime scoffed and dropped two teaspoons of sugar into his cup. "Cameras? I am speaking of ANBU."

"You created ANBU?"

"I created most of the mechanics of this village, including the hospital, mission grade, police force-"

"-yes, and the police force turned out so well-"

"-chunin exams, ANBU, and so forth. Apparently the police force messed up and led to the massacre of the Uchiha Clan. I did not see that coming."

"Only a couple people did, so I hear. Senju-sama, back in the matter of Edo-tensei. Is you appearance an illusion or a henge, or is that actually your body?"

"The chakra required for the jutsu copies the DNA in the sample from the person who is being summoned and configures the cells of the sacrifice to match the DNA of the summoned so that you essentially have the body of the person you are summoning, and then it calls the soul into the body to revive it."

"And provides it with accurate clothing."

"Yes."

"So you could take that clothing off and it wouldn't disappear."

"Yes, I removed my sandals at the door, see?"

"But you kept your armour on? Isn't it uncomfortable?"

Tobirama sighed. "Kunoichi, I will take off my armour if that will make you satisfied."

A pleased smirk crossed Sakura's face as the Nidaime unlaced the blue plates and pulled them over his head. She leaned over the tea and tapped a finger on one of the pieces.

"This is strong, isn't it? I bet it could block a few hits from me. Senju-sama, we should spar sometime. I want to test this edo tensei of yours."

"You can stop calling me Senji-sama, Sakura."

Sakura looked up and her breath caught a little at the burn in her guest's ruby eyes.

"What should I call you?" she asked, with a slight hesitation.

"Tobirama, kami, I don't care, as long as you scream it," he murmured, and crushed her lips to his own.  
Afterwards, Sakura was surprised to find that her tea set hadn't been knocked over at all, but it probably had something to do with the way Tobirama picked her up effortlessly without pausing in kissing her, and carried her to her room, guided by the hissed directions between their lips. She was glad nothing had happened, of course, considering the careless abandon with which she had left the teapot alone on the floor.

**Outer.**

Tobirama dropped her on her bed and placed his arms on either side of her hips. He moved to-

**Outer!**

_What?_

**Wake up- this is a genjutsu.**

Sakura's eyes snapped to the Tobirama before her, who was staring at her quizzically, and without hesitation she bit through the corner of her lip and tasted blood. Within seconds her vision shifted and the Lord Second was sipping tea before her, a studious expression plastered on his face.

"What did you just do?"

"I told you to stop calling me Senju-sama," he replied, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

"_What. The hell. Did you. Just. Do."_

"I cast a genjutsu to have you live your most recent daydream. My apologies for not giving any warning, but I wanted to see if you could break out of a genjutsu quickly without knowing about it."

"My daydream- what- did you see any of it?" Sakura almost dropped her teacup in surprise.

"No."

She stared at him for a full ten seconds, before deciding that challenging a legend would not be a good idea. "If you were a lesser man, I would have beat you to a pulp by now."

"If I were a lesser man, I would not have cast a genjutsu upon you in such a fashion," Tobirama returned. "What did your daydream entail of?"

Sakura fought back a blush. "That is not something I will allow you to demand from me."

Tobirama raised an eyebrow. "I see. But it was extraordinary to the point that you could recognize it within a few minutes?"

"Well…yes, it was extremely odd, but the transition was good, and it took quite a bit of time to gain a level of clearheadedness to break the genjutsu."

**Yeah, cuz you a thirsty ho.**

_Shut the hell up, inner._

**Not until you give me credit.**

_You want him to know about you?_

**I want that fine ass ninja as Sensei, if you know what I mean.**

" –broke the illusion quite quickly. Did your sensei teach you any genjutsu techniques?"

Sakura quickly shoved inner into a box and tried to recollect what the Second had said.

"Not really, he was more of a strategy type of teacher than actual techniques."

**Unless you were Sasuke. Really dropped the ball on that one, didn't he?**

_Get the fuck out._

"So you have not had a genjutsu instructor?" Tobirama drained his tea and set it to the side, his fingers steepling.

"No."

"You are eighteen?"

"Seventeen."

Silence fell, and Sakura poured both more tea. Fiddling with her fingers under the Second's heavy gaze, she glanced around the room at all the piles of junk left over from mission. She really should have gotten rid of those old scrolls.

"I would like," Tobirama began, relaxing his posture, "to teach you a number of things, if you will agree to that. I won't take time away from your hospital work, but I will ask Tsunade to release you from Hokage assistant duties. Do you accept?"

**Hell yas! Sensei teach me that water jutsu tongue skills-**

"Yes, I would like that." Sakura carefully arranged her face as to not betray he- or her Inner's- emotions.

"Perfect. We start tomorrow at seven. Same pool as this morning." The former Hokage rose and gently set his empty tea cup down.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I have the five o' clock shift."

"No you don't." Tobirama strapped on his armour.

"You planned this."

"Not in great detail."

"For how long have you been inquiring about my work schedule?" Sakura held the door open, and the silver haired man stepped out and stalled on the doorstep.

"I shall reveal that when you reveal the contents of your daydream, new student."

He turned to go, and heard the kunoichi mutter behind him, "I'll find out long before you do, _sensei._"

A smirk crossed his face. Of course she could question Tsunade of his inquiries, but he had been lying. He knew of every image the genjutsu entailed.

**Yayyyyyy, another incomplete story by cielchat to join the horde of unfinished plots! This was originally going to be part of a larger story that centred completely around Tobirama, but that one was taking too long, so they'll be separated. Well, I guess I could call this a one-shot in order to feel less guilty about not updating for millions of years, but never fear! There is more of this coming.**

**cielchat**


	2. Chapter 2

**I opened my email today and pretty much everything I saw was a ton of messages from Fanfiction. Everyone who reviewed, favourite, or followed, I really appreciate it.  
Just so you know, this will be continuing, but for how long I don't know, so I may take it off the completed list.**

Sakura hated training where people could see her. She almost never got anything right on her first try, unlike the tree walking exercise, so when it came to something new, she preferred to test it out a few times first so that no one would see her flail. Unfortunately, finding a training spot far away from other people was difficult, and it usually took a very long time to get there. In fact, she was kind of surprised that the Second managed to find her. He could have come across her by accident, she supposed, but it seemed unlikely given his scheming.

Sakura wasn't truly bothered by it, just surprised that Tsunade-shishou hadn't told her anything. Honestly, why wouldn't you tell your apprentice when the former and resurrected Hokage asked about her hospital schedule? Tsunade wasn't even very scatter-brained, so it was unlikely she forgot. She must have had a reason for keeping the information from Sakura.

The first thing that caught her eye when she reached the pool she had been practicing at yesterday was the pile of gravel that had once been a boulder. It had been completely pulverized by the Nidaime's attack, something that Sakura couldn't imagine matching. Nonetheless, she had to try. It was six, she presumed, and there was one hour until she expected the Second to show up. Casting down her pack, Sakura made the hand seals for the water dragon.

Unlike her eight failed attempts the previous day, this time the water rose smoothly, forming a perfect funnel topped with a dragon head. It was much taller than her other dragons, and more slender, and took up much less chakra. It was a great improvement, or it appeared to be, until the water came in contact with the stone and collapsed.

_Stupid!_ Sakura scolded herself. _He told you, keep the water spinning so it doesn't fall apart. You can't waste chakra on stupid mistakes._

She resolved to try once more, and whether she failed or succeeded, she had to keep the rest of her chakra for training, and later her shift.

On her second try, the stone split in half.

**God, finally, all that concentration was giving me a headache.**

_You weren't even helping!_

**I was supporting you.**

Sakura reclined under a tree and began a series of stretches that kept her limber and in shape when she didn't have the time or space to do a heavy work out. The mindless movement of muscles let her meditate as well, so time flew by and when it was seven, the leaf that floated down out of the tree hardly went unnoticed.

Instead of looking up at where the Nidaime surely was, Sakura finished her last stretch and stood, picking up the leaf. She inscribed a message on it with a senbon, and used chakra to send it right back up the tree. In two seconds flat, the Nidaime stood in front of her, unsmiling.

"Cute," he grunted. "But you passed."

"Why did you even think that would work?"

"It worked on my brother."

Sakura mentally revaluated the First Hokage. If he could fall for such an obvious genjutsu, he must be more like Naruto than she could imagine.

"Your second water dragon today was adequate, but you'll need a lot more practice before attempting to use it in battle. Go stand on the surface of the water."

The Kunoichi did as bade, keeping the surprise off her face. How long had he been at the pool- or had he followed her?

Once she stood in the middle of the pool, Tobirama touched the water, sending a wave of chakra that disrupted her own and caused her to sink. She knew the trick, used it often, and was ready to climb back up when above her the water turned to white. Before Sakura even touched it, she knew a thick layer of ice had covered the pool. She was about to shatter it with one blow when her suspicions struck her. Why would he trap her so obviously? Was there a genjutsu waiting for her if she broke the ice? Or was he testing her, again, to find her capabilities. Whatever it was, she was running out of air. If it was a test, she had better pass it quick.

Sakura aimed a genjutsu release spell at the ice, probing it for traps. When none appeared, she masked her chakra best she could and swam to a bend in the pool behind a rock where she was unseen from shore, and punched the ice.

Sakura's fist met no resistance, and the effort behind the punch propelled her back to the surface of the water.

_Huh. The genjutsu was the ice. Clever._

**What, you thought he wasn't?**

_Why are you so annoying?_

**Why are you so boring?**

Sakura peered through the bushes at Tobirama, who was standing in the same spot, with his eyes closed. Too late, Sakura remembered that the Second's tracking abilities were the best in history, and even with her chakra masked it wouldn't make a difference. She might as well stop hiding now, because there was no doubt he knew exactly where she was.

"Good," The Nidaime said when she stepped back out from behind the bend. "Now go stand in the middle of the pool again."

There was no hope for keeping dry, Sakura thought, and sighed at the load of laundry she would have to do in the evening.

…

Tobirama began inscribing a permanent tag on a stone while Haruno balanced precariously on the top of a water dragon. It was troublesome to remember to add a temporary one each time he left the area, and he had a feeling he would be here for a while. Absentmindedly directing away the wave sent by Haruno's failed dragon, the Senju carved a deeper furrow in the centre of his seal and admired the kunai. It certainly was good craftsmanship, much better than the ones from his childhood. He would have to visit that-

"Senju-sama."

"I'm quite serious, don't call me Senju-sama." Tobirama glanced up at the kunoichi standing in the head of a three foot tall dragon, perfectly controlled. Even her face was neutral, unusually, considering the last time he had told her not to call him Senju-sama.

"Senju-sama, I have a three-o'clock shift, as I'm sure you are aware."

That's right. The hospitals had strict regulations now, with doctors required to show up at certain times. That was too bad, he would have to find some other form of entertainment while Haruno was healing people or curing diseases or doing the hokage's paperwork. Honestly, Tsunade had grown up exactly like Hashirama. Standing, Tobirama dropped the finished tag and offered his hand to Haruno.

"Need a lift?"

Given her expression after they appeared in the middle of Konoha, Haruno had never experienced Hiraishin before. Maybe he'd teach her that too.

**Okay, there you go. I think this was slightly shorter than the last, but at least it's another chapter. I'm terrible at updating, I know. Despite that, you should all follow me anyways. There will be more of this. Eventually.**

**Cielchat**


	3. Chapter 3

"Tsunade-shishou," Sakura asked in an unusually sweet tone, "Did you happen to speak to Nidaime-sama recently? About something like, I don't know, my work schedule?"

Tsunade sighed. "Right. Great-uncle Tobi wants to train you. Go learn shit. Don't slack off on your hospital schedule. Find Shizune."

Sakura had expected more resistance. "Did he say why he wants to train me?"

"Eh, something about Naruto being even stupider than his brother. Can you pass me the sake?"

Sakura left the room with the sake bottle in her grasp. She would give it to Shizune to ensure the Hokage did her paperwork.

"Sakuraaaaaaa…"

The door swung shut behind her, cutting off the Hokage's whine.

Sakura knew Hokages didn't just up and train people, no matter how much "potential" they showed. It had taken her a month to convince Tsunade to train her, a month of begging and tears and sweat and gifting sake. Besides, Sakura already had Tsunade as a mentor. Why did Tobirama-sama think she would require another teacher? Tobirama wasn't a foolish man, nor an exceptionally soft-hearted one. He didn't act out of pity or impulsiveness. For him to remain in Konoha to teach her would mean he had a larger plan, some winning hand of cards.

But what?

Several hours passed as Sakura tended to her patients and attempted to enlighten herself on Tobirama's motives. Finally it was over, and though she felt dead from physical and mental exhaustion, she smiled at the thought of mocha ice cream in her freezer as she packed her bag.

"Sakura?"

Well, it appeared she wouldn't be getting that very soon.

"Sasuke," Sakura curved her eyebrows. "I don't usually see you around here. Did you get a papercut?"

Some form of exasperation flitted across the Uchiha's face, but since Sakura hadn't seen anything like it for five years or so, she couldn't pinpoint it.

"I was visiting someone. Are you going home?"

"Yeah, I'm dead- wait, who?"

Sasuke said nothing as he fell in step beside her, exiting the hospital lobby.

"Sasuke, who were you visiting? I know Naruto isn't in the hospital, and I really can't think of anyone else you would expend emotions on."

"Thanks, Sakura," Sasuke said dryly. "I don't visit Naruto in the hospital."

"That's too bad. Naruto visits you in the hospital."

"To gloat."

"Semantics," Sakura said airily. "How have the missions been?"

Sasuke grunted in either frustration or annoyance, but Sakura stayed silent. She had figured out that if she didn't say anything for at least thirty seconds, Sasuke would follow up with actual words.

"…boring. I have another three months left."

By that, Sasuke meant he had another three months left on prohibition from B and A rank missions. Given that he had waited almost two years already, he would be more patient, but Sasuke was never the accommodating type.

"Well, at least you'll definitely be qualified for the Chunin exams!" Sakura supressed a laugh. She rarely ribbed Sasuke, having only started conversing with him about a year ago. It had taken a while to truly forgive the Uchiha.

"I doubt they'll let me participate. I'd rather go straight to the ANBU exam." Sasuke frowned.

"Just tell them about how you took down two hundred sound nin without any dying. If Gaara could control himself around a bunch of bratty twelve year olds, you can."

The dark haired boy huffed. "Well, Gaara didn't."

They reached Sakura's apartment complex, only two blocks away from Sasuke's.

"But you can," Sakura said firmly. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

Sasuke grunted and walked off into the night.

…

"Haruno," said the Second the moment she stepped in the door. Sakura shrieked and threw a boot at him.

"Interesting choice of weapon," he remarked, as the boot tore a foot wide hole in the wall due to Sakura's super strength. "I bet your landlady loves you."

"I buy her a potted plant from Ino every time I break a wall," Sakura said, recollecting herself. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed a place to hide after I assassinated the Raikage. Shall we work on your traps?"

The kunoichi stared at him. "I would say that you're joking, but I'm really not sure. You're powerful enough and completely emotionless on top of that."

"It's a joke. I only killed his general." Tobirama walked over to her window and opened it. "Let's start with a chameleon genjutsu on this one."

"I have a chameleon genjutsu on it." Sakura replied. The window was disguised as plain wall from the outside.

"Not good enough. Make a replicate of the window two feet from the left, and do the same on the inside."

Sakura did as she was told, blinking as the window moved away from her before going back to its original spot. She had learned enough to make sure her genjutsus didn't affect the caster.

Tobirama hummed. "Redo it, and this time, add a Ram seal after the third and last seal."

"What did that- oh." The window- the real one- now had a faint spider webbing of chakra over it that would catch anyone who touched it.

"Do the same for the rest of your windows, and maybe an eternal burning lava pit for your door."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I think not. The world is no longer at war."

"That's what my brother said," Tobirama cautioned, following her around the apartment. "Peace is temporary. Order always dissolves back into chaos eventually."

"Aren't you a real sunflower. Dial down that smile, would you?"

"Did you do the eternal burning lava pit?"

"No, worse." Sakura stepped away from her door and into the kitchen. "A no wifi sign."

Tobirama raised an eyebrow, and Sakura started shovelling leftover noodles into her mouth rather than explain wireless internet to him.

"Training tomorrow. I can give you a lift. We'll be learning water spheres."

"Wait, what about the stuff we did this morning?" Sakura dumped sauce on her noodles. "I didn't get it perfect."

Tobirama leaned back onto the counter, arms crossed. "You can practice that on your own. I'm not Kakashi. I'll tell you what you need to know, and you can perfect it on your own. You don't need me for everything."

"…thanks." Sakura appraised the second Hokage's lithe form, relaxed in her own home. How long, she wondered, until she had that much control over her body and abilities?

**Hawwwwwttttttt…**

_Oh thank god I thought you were dead._

**Really?**

_No go away._

"Okay yeah, I'll be there," she blurted out hastily, suddenly aware she had been staring.

"No, I'm giving you a ride, remember? To get you used to Hiraishin."

"Oh, right. Sure, thanks. Senju-sama," she said belatedly.

Tobirama twitched. "And you were doing so well at not being formal, too."

He disappeared, and finally Sakura could shove an inappropriate amount of noodles into her cheeks without fear of being judged.

**It's been like a year? And three weeks, or so, since the first chapter. My bad. You know what they say, time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. I'll come back with another chapter in a few months or so, depending if I get into colleges. Haha**

**Cielchat**


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura showed up at the hospital ten minutes before her shift started and in desperate need of a shower. Her clothes were soaked, her boots caked with mud and many, many unidentifiable plants stuck in her hair, and she could feel a collection of bruises forming along her thigh where a large rock set loose by her new and improved Water Dragon had collided with her. The only benefit she could think of from this morning was not having to travel all the way out to the pool and back- Hiraishin was definitely an improvement. Oh, and the Second looked damn good in that navy longsleeve.

In contrast, Tobirama was having a great time. He had this excellent ramen for breakfast (cooking had improved greatly since his day, there were restaurants everywhere), a kid recognized his face and gave him a piece of candy, Haruno had stopped referring to him as Senju-sama and now used Tobirama-san, and now he was visiting his favourite grand-niece again. He only had one grand-niece, but whatever.

"What the hell do you mean all this is work you haven't done?"

Tsunade winced at the Nidaime's overly loud (in her opinion) voice. She could still taste sake on her tongue, and if her memory served her correctly, the bottle in her left bottom drawer was still a quarter full. She reached down while Tobirama was pacing around in annoyance.

"How does this village even function? How does it even exist? You're exactly like Hashirama was! Don't you understand you have to do all of this? It's not something you can just put aside-"

"Uncle," Tsunade groaned, "give it a rest. Shizune will take care of it."

"Shizune is enabling you! Do your own damn work for once instead of drinking like a fish!"

"I wouldn't know how to do it if I tried, Uncle. Besides, organizing things is Shizune's job. My job is signing random papers."

"I don't know why you wanted to be Hokage."

"I didn't, that little brat talked me into it." Tsunade sighed. "Everyone says he's like Grandpa, but this one's annoying as hell."

Tobirama sighed. "Yeah, well, Hashirama was annoying as hell too. You were just spoiled and didn't notice."

"He'll become Hokage though. I just hope he ends up like the Sandaime and not his father. He deserves to live a long time."

"About that…" Tobirama shifted into a standing position.

"What?" Tsunade irritably took a swig from her sake bottle and glowered at him.

"Have you done any training for Uzumaki? Because if anything, it's Haruno who's learning to follow in your footsteps."

Tsunade sat up. "Sakura won't be Hokage before Naruto. Even if she knows the workings of the government better, all the other village leaders expect Naruto. Hell, the entire world is just waiting for the day Naruto's announced Hokage."

"But does he know anything? Does he know a thing about what to do besides defeat the enemy? It was easy for my brother; make peace with the Uchiha, make peace with the other clans, and build a village. The details were all up to me. What will Naruto do when he's asked about foreign imports, or shinobi tax rates, or immigration policy? Every Hokage since my brother has been a thinker, not just a fighter."

"He'll learn," Tsuande insisted. "And he won't have to decide it all by himself. He'll have his council, me, Shizune, and yes, Sakura. Besides, Naruto's not just a fighter. He's the most convincing person I've ever met, and charisma, as you well know, is just as important as reputation. Sakura might be in the Bingo book, but she still has a ways to go before she has that reputation to boost her. But who knows, I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto retired and she took his place."

Tobirama nodded, and started to leave.

"Is that why you've offered to teach her? You want her to be Hokage?" Tsunade inquired. Tobirama glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Stop drinking and get back to work."

….

Tobirama and Sakura appeared in the middle of Sakura's living room, and for the first time since they had started training with the Second's Hiraishin, Sakura didn't stumble or fall over.

"You're improving," Tobirama noted. "I'll teach you the seals soon."

"Thanks," she said dryly, "It only took me two weeks."

"It took me two years to develop this jutsu," he stated lightly. "Time is a necessity."

Sakura nodded in return and collapsed on her couch. As she started healing a gash on her arm, Tobirama browsed her bookshelf. He passed over the medical textbooks and the history books, taking small interest in the novels and short story collections. Soon he came to a set of books that were turned so that their spines were not visible from outside of the shelf. Curious, he pulled one out. Its cover was a bright, lurid orange, and it was titled Icha Icha Paradise. He glanced behind him. Sakura was meditating or asleep; either way, her eyes were closed. Taking the book with him, he settled into the chair across from her and began to read.

Scarcely two chapters into the book, he paused abruptly. Times certainly had changed. During his life, books were rare, only increasing with the formation of the hidden villages, and they were always either solid information or respectable retellings of great legends, stories that were told with awe and wonder. This- this was a shameful use of ink and paper, and it was shocking that Sakura had it in her possession. Tobirama started to read again.

Sakura stirred, slightly surprised that Tobirama was still there. "I'll make some tea," she yawned, and then caught sight of what he was holding and shrieked.

"DON'T READ THAT! PUT IT DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Her eyes were wide and face the colour of a tomato.

"You really shouldn't have this habit of screaming, Sakura," Tobirama said mildly. "The neighbours will start to wonder."

"Oh my god, it's affected you already," she whimpered. "Put it back, please."

"I haven't finished," Tobirama objected. "Why do you possess this if you're so ashamed of it?"

Sakura hid her face with her hands. "You don't understand. My sensei…"

"Hatake? I'm judging him very harshly right now," he said.

"No, it wasn't like that! I mean," Sakura backtracked. "He just- I- I stole them-"

"I'm starting to judge you too. Maybe you should go make tea to calm yourself down and then explain."

Sakura groaned and left the room. A moment later, Tobirama sensed the mentioned Copy-nin enter through the door.

"Sakura, what happened to your WiFi- Nidaime-sama," Hatake greeted flatly, and then he too saw the book Tobirama held. "Scratch that, Sakura, why does Nidaime-sama have my book?"

"I fucking told you!" Sakura screamed from the kitchen, though no one quite knew who she was talking to.

"I found this on Haruno's bookshelf," Tobirama explained helpfully.

Hatake huffed. "Sakura, I told you and Naruto to stop stealing my books."

"We told you to stop reading them!"

Kakashi ignored her and turned to Tobirama. "May I inquire why you happen to be lounging in my student's apartment and selecting reading material from her bookshelf?"

"I happen to have taken her on as my student," Tobirama replied coolly, turning a page. "I can't say I approve very much of her previous teachers' habits of alcoholism, or, apparently, fornication literature. I certainly hope she hasn't picked it up."

"It's called porn nowadays," Kakashi pointed out, and retrieved the other similar books from the bookshelf. "These ones in particular are written by Jiraiya-sama."

Tobirama grimaced. "He was Uzumaki's teacher, was he not? What have shinobi come to?"

"Naruto has never quite appreciated his teacher's works."

"Thank god," uttered Sakura, appearing with her tea set. "Kakashi-sensei, please stop advocating your porn. Senju-san, please return the book to Kakashi before your mind degenerates."

Tobirama snapped the book shut obediently and held it out. "You'll have to… show me how it ends, Hatake," he insisted, flicking his eyes over Kakashi's hidden face, who raised an eyebrow as he received the book. Sakura stared at both of them with a disgusted look on her face.

"I can't tell if you're really that shameless or if you just have a twisted sense of humor, Senju," she wondered, and poured three cups of tea. Kakashi settled into the couch next to her.

"Look underneath the underneath, Sakura," Kakashi said.

"Yeah, that doesn't help. His face has one setting: emotionless."

"Flirting with a straight face is never very effective."

Tobirama threw them a bored look. "I usually don't feel the need to try."

Sakura made a face again and drank her tea. "Did you need something, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I just wanted to see my favourite student," he claimed.

"Sasuke's apartment is that way," Sakura stated dryly, her hand flung out to the side. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Sasuke's apartment is sad and empty-"

"So is yours."

"-which is why I come here."

"You're a mess. Did you want food?" Sakura was already standing.

"Yes please," Kakashi replied politely.

"What about you, Tobirama?"

He nodded an affirmative, and smiled at the informal use of his name when she disappeared.

"She doesn't call you sensei?" Kakashi asked. "I was under the impression you commanded respect."

"Indeed, I respect her enough to speak to her as an equal."

"I can hear you," Sakura yelled. "Stop your damn pissing contest or I'm kicking you out."

The two men obediently fell silent, resorting to giving each other icy stares.

**Well, I got into college, so here's another chapter. I'm trying to figure out how to start causing events to happen, so I don't know if I'll be introducing a "villain" of sorts or just go with domestic issues, but eventually I'll write more. Don't hold your breath though, it'll be at least three months.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Haruno-san?" Kenji, one of the other doctors at the hospital, tilted his head to the side in an exaggerated manner. "Why are you dirty?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I was training, Kenji."

"Oooooohhhhhhhhh," he said in comprehension. "Well, get to the showers. Jun is waiting to leave already. He has his niece's birthday to get to, you know."

"I'm literally walking to the showers right now," Sakura complained under her breath. "I am on my way to the showers, you don't need to tell me to do that." The lower Sakura's chakra got, the more small things annoyed her. Luckily, she was still above the minimum amount required for her shift, which was not, thank kami, for the Emergency Room.

"Nothing like a blissful, easy day of walking around cold halls full of sick people in a completely unflattering uniform," the kunoichi muttered to herself. "I wonder what stupid jonin is trying to escape through the window today?"

"Probably Gai," said a voice beside her. "And at least you wear comfortable shoes."

Shizune's heels clacked against the tiles of the staff shower room, and Sakura made a face at her mentor. "Why _do_ you wear those?"

"Sexism in the modern anime genre," Shizune shrugged. "Anyways, I need you to take over head of hospital today. I have a mission. Mikiko will cover your shift."

Sakura perked up, desk duty was much preferable to roaming with clipboard in hand. Desk duty meant food!

"Wait a second," she narrowed her eyes, "You've left all the paperwork, haven't you?"

Shizune groaned. "Of course. An entire stack is due tomorrow, by the way."

"You monster."

"If it helps, I made sure there's enough hot water for your shower."

Three hours later found Sakura slumped over miles of ink and paper, green eyes burning with vengeance. She was hardly sure if she hated the work more, or the glass door that allowed the other nurses and doctors to know whether or not she was asleep. Furthermore, her favourite vendor had closed and despite the rumbling in her stomach she refused to cross the entire town to simply get some quality food.

"You look angry."

Of course. Of course the Nidaime would find her here too. This was just getting out of control.

"Don't you have anything to do? People to see? Other students to teach?" Sakura pawed uselessly at her pens, trying to fill out yet another form.

"You always have my undivided attention. Are you filling in as the chief medic again?"

"Yes- wait. What do you mean again? How do you know about the last times?"

Tobirama Senju raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, right, superninja. Sorry. And yes, I am."

He pursed his lips. "Do you know what your ninja rank is?"

"Main character? I don't know, I think I got a wartime promotion to Jonin." Sakura signed another form that required the approval of a council member.

Tobirama approached her desk, sitting on the edge of it. "You surpassed your sanin teacher, you faced down the demon-woman who is the mother of all ninja, you saved the life of millions, and you think you are a jonin?"

Sakura squinted at him. "Am I not a jonin?" A paper tried to blow off the desk and she slapped a hand down on it. "You know, I haven't even had coffee yet this morning. I should get a gallon or two of that."

"Do you know what they're calling you, in the streets? Do you know what they call your team seven, the ninja, the civilians, the samurai? The lords and ladies, the other Kage?" Tobirama leaned over, catching her gaze with piercing red eyes.

"What? No. What is it?"

He sighed and leaned back. "I'll let you figure it out for yourself."

"Humph. Well, I guess you do have a hobby after all. Creeper."

She looked up to see him studying her with clear amusement. A quiet smile played on his handsome lips, corners twitching.

"Last month you wouldn't even call me by my name, Sakura."

She had to admit, she liked the way he said her name. "I get over being starstruck fairly quickly, _Nidaime-sama_. Besides, you've put enough effort into me to forgive rudeness."

"You're not too old to spank, brat."

"You can try, grandpa, but I'm a big jonin now."

A roll of the eyes, followed by; "What do you want, Sakura?"

"What do you mean? I want this paperwork to be done."

"What do you want from life? What are your goals?"

Once, a lifetime ago, another silver-haired man had asked her the same thing. Another Sakura had answered with another dream. Suddenly she felt very small.

"I don't know. I want to be stronger."

"You're doing that. You'll get stronger every day. But what's the end? ANBU?"

"No."

"Head of Hospital?"

"Shizune has that."

"Shizune will leave as soon as Tsunade does. But Is Head of Hospital all you want? Just stay in here like it always is? Go on missions sometimes, train?"

Sakura frowned. "What are you suggesting? You've got plans. I'm starting to see that you always do."

Tobirama sat up, spread his hands. "True. But my point: you're the princess of Konoha. You'll be queen. You should take a seat on the council at some point. This peace won't last forever; it never does. If you don't realize it, you're one of the figureheads of your village. Don't waste your power. Use it. Use it to repair Konoha before the next catastrophe."

Her eyebrows drawn together, Sakura stared intently at the older man. "You believe that? I'm not that kind of person. I don't deal with that level of stuff."

"Why not? You know everyone in the village. You know how to deal with legal matters. You're apprentice to the Hokage."

"I'm in the background! I serve tea-"

Tobirama cut her off. "I have to go. Think about it."

He vanished, leaving behind a marked kunai. Barely seconds later, there was a knock on her door, a familiar pair of dark eyes peering through. She grabbed the kunai and dropped it under her desk.

"Sasuke! Come in."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ino, I'm just so confused. He comes into my office, asks for a stamp of approval on a mission, makes small talk, and asks me out to dinner!"

Ino lifted the brush away from her shining nails. "Yeah that is weird. Maybe war mellowed him out. Like, he had PTSD before, because of his family, but the war fixed it and now he's a normal person."

"That theory makes more sense than his behaviour, and that's saying something!" Sakura whined into the phone. "Is he hitting on me?"

"Girl, that's a total ten out of ten yes. So what are you wearing to dinner?"

"…I turned him down."

Ino dropped the phone, and then hastily screwed the cap onto her nail polish. "You did WHAT?"

"Ino, he knocked me out! Flat on my back during the most important battle of our lives! He doesn't fucking respect me, and I can't trust him to watch my back! Forget Sasuke, I have PTSD!"

"But it's Sasuke! You loved him for like, ten years or some shit! Is there another guy?"

"I don't need another guy for me to realize that Sasuke doesn't treat me well, Ino, I can realize that for myself," Sakura growled.

"Okay, okay fine. But is there?"

"No."

"You're lying."

"Dammit, Ino! How do you always know?" Sakura rolled over on her fluffy pink comforter and kicked her feet in the air. "I hate you sometimes because of that."

"Ninja senses. Who is it?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was the Nidaime Hokage?"

Ino laughed, crackly and tinny over the phone. "Don't be like that, Sakura, tell me who it is."

"The Nidaime Hokage."

The laughter stopped. "You're serious."

"Uchiha-dead serious."

"Dayumn, forehead, how the heck-"

"He offered to train me, probably because my ninjutsu sucks so bad-"

"-true, it does-"

"-and we've sort of been hanging out."

Ino gasped. "What kind of hanging out? Netflix and Chill?"

"What? No, not yet. But oh my god Ino, this one genjutsu he used on me,"

…

"Hey, teme, how's wooing Sakura-chan going?" Naruto, boisterous as ever, greeted Sasuke far too loudly from across the graveyard.

"Hn."

"That badly, huh?" His best friend, his brother, clasped his only hand over Sasuke's shoulder. "Don't let it get to you. You'll win her over in the end."

"She's seeing someone else."

"Seriously?" Naruto was dumfounded. "But she never…"

"She's not an idiot, Naruto. Anyone in the world would be an easier relationship than either of us for her."

"Maybe she just likes the chase, you know? How do you know she's dating someone?"

"She said so."

"She might be lying, Sasuke." Naruto turned to look at him, blue eyes burning. "She would have told me. You didn't exactly bring up all your good points over the past ten years; if I were her I might avoid getting involved too."

Sasuke scoffed. "If you were her she'd punch me in the face and then forgive me instantly."

"True, true." The blond folded his arms behind his head. "She might punch you anyways, Sakura has such a beautiful temper."

"Which makes it odd, seeing as Hyuga has none." Sasuke gave a rare smile.

"Hinata-chan is a kind flower. I appreciate all flowers, and all women."

"You're full of bullshit."

…

An empty green bench stood in the quieter part of Konoha. It had a small plaque with a dedication name engraved on it. The Nidaime studied it for a second before settling on the bench to observe the neighbourhood.

Two hours later Hatake Kakashi meandered up and sat on the other end of the bench. He slung his arm across the back, widening his bubble of personal space. The Nidaime's eyebrow twitched, and in return he shifted his legs out just a touch.

An hour of silence passed before Kakashi spoke.

"You better not be fucking my student."

"Nope."

"Good."

They quieted again as a civilian family passed them by on the way to the park, a small child swinging between her parents. They were completely unconcerned by the godlike ninja in their midst.

"Doesn't mean I won't," Tobirama muttered when the family disappeared.

"Like hell," Kakashi growled back.

"It's her choice, not yours."

"I talked to Tsunade. She's a person, not a pawn."

"I know that. Does anyone else?"

Kakashi snapped shut his orange book. "Of course."

"Then maybe you should find out exactly why Sasuke is attempting a relationship with her."

"Hell if I let that happen either."

Tobirama stood. "I like you, Hatake."

Kakashi saluted. "Nidaime-sama."

**I realized that I hadn't put a note in the last chapter, so I wrote another short one to make up for it.**

**I might do more this summer. I don't know yet, but I'm going to crush Sasuke hard and then make the TobiSaku stuff actually start happenin' yay.**

**Don't forget, if you follow, you get to read more chapters, and if you review, I remember to write more chapters.**

**-cielchat**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Welcome back to more of this B.S.! I have two finals coming up and a five-page essay due in about eighty-four hours, so of course I'm writing more fanfiction about an extremely obscure pairing for all four-hundred and twenty-two of you! Remember to follow and leave a comment about how awfully short and unfulfilling this chapter was! I'll update either in the next two months or nine months! Have another exclamation point!**

"It's time to start your real training," the Nidaime said.

"Uh," replied Sakura. She glanced at the mud pit she was slowly sinking into.

"Question?" he prompted.

She paused. Of course, this was the Second Hokage. Why did she think this was training up until now? To a ninja like him, this was probably just afternoon picnic activities. "No questions."

"Great. Come on, get out of the mud and rinse off, we've got a lot to do."

"Right. No problem. Let me just, uh, grab, um-" Sakura made aborted attempts to pull herself out of the sticky, heavy mud.

"Water jutsu to dissolve the mud," Tobirama suggested.

She huffed. "I know that. But I-"

She made no effort to bring her hands together in a seal. Tobirama cocked his head slightly to watch as she slowly inched her way up, finally collapsing, dirty and soaked, on the grass.

"Manual labour is good for my character," she said by way of explanation, then rolled into the pool to wash off.

"If you say so," he replied dryly. "Now. I believe I've taught you quite enough jutsus recently, and I presume you've perfected them to the best of your abilities during your own training time. I am going to go on the offensive using only ninjutsu, and you are going to defend using only ninjutsu. Each attack should be perfectly counterable, provided you choose precisely the correct jutsu to defend with. Do not employ your taijutsu."

"Yes sir."

"Don't call me sir."

"Yes sir ma'am sir."

Tobirama's eyes narrowed, but he dove straight into his attacks. To say they were formidable would be an understatement. Sakura struggled to dodge the first few katon and water dragons before remembering her orders. As she adjusted to firing back her own smaller and weaker jutsus, the Niadaime's attacks became more complex and intense, ranging into ones she had never seen before, ones that she deflected by mere inches. She was immediately relieved for the hours she had spent practicing the seals, as her fingers slipped into familiar rhythms. True to his word, she was able to repel every single attack Tobirama aimed at her, though they came faster and stronger.

A strange feeling settled over her for a second, and she blinked. A barrage of rocks were raining down on her, and as she began forming the seals to make an earth shelter for herself, the strange feeling came again. Her hands slipped into the motions for a water dome. A moment later, her vision adjusted as the genjutsu was dispelled, and the hail of fireballs fizzled to death on her water dome.

Tobirama ceased his attacks. "Break."

"You used a genjutsu," she accused. "You said only ninjutsu."

"I lied," he told her. "You did well. This time. Will you be able to repeat the performance?"

She blinked again. "You just put another one on me."

Sakura turned around to look at the Nidaime, now behind her.

"Impressive," he remarked. "Those are some of the subtler genjutsu I know, if not as powerful. The times I've used them before, they were not noticed."

"I've told you, I'm good at sensing genjutsu."

"But even in the midst of a ninjutsu fight, where you were out of your depth to begin with. And to realize and counter it before even fully breaking the genjutsu…It is impressive, Sakura."

She frowned. Sakura knew ninjutsu wasn't her best, but she'd thought that she'd improved to some degree.

"We will work on your ninjutsu," Tobirama amended. "It will take time. Now, again. There will be no genjutsu this time."

There was genjutsu that time, in a different way, and the next time and the next time, until there wasn't one and Sakura spent an entire minute attempting to break a genjutsu that didn't exist.

"That wasn't particularly nice," she told him.

"You called me ma'am. I wasn't feeling very nice."

They continued, moving from ninjutsu on solid ground to battling it out on water, mud, logs, and treetops. Despite her phenomenal control of chakra, Sakura was highly depleted when Tobirama finally called for a stop to the exercises.

"You will also need to improve your chakra reseves," he noted. "I would suggest using as much as possible of it every day. How fast is your regeneration period?"

"Four hours sleeping," Sakura groaned. This morning had been hell in the hospital, with twenty screaming children fearing flu shots, but it had required no chakra. All of it had gone into training.

"Excellent. You do get that amount of sleep, so I will be making sure you deplete yourself every day." Tobirama rubbed his chin. "Let's work on your disguises for the rest of the evening. Transform into your closest approximation of a Cloud tourist, and then we will get dinner."

"What a fucking fantastic date," Sakura muttered under her breath. "Let me just go powder my nose first, will you?"

"I'll take you on a better date another night," Tobirama said offhandedly. "Tonight, you are not Haruno Sakura."

…

"I'm telling you, man, you just gotta man up and ask her for real. Let her know how you feel. Don't hold back. Pour your soul out." Naruto slurped his noodles exaggeratedly.

"That might be the dumbest advice you've ever given me," Sasuke snorted.

"It's the best advice I've ever given anyone," Naruto retorted. "I didn't allow my deep love for Sakura to morph into an even deeper platonic bond just so you could avoid your own stunted emotions."

"I'm glad I don't pay you to be my therapist."

"You get me for free," Naruto said happily. "You're a lucky man."

Sasuke politely closed his mouth to chew his dumplings. Naruto lifted his bowl to finish the dregs of his broth. Besides them, a Kumo civilian couple sat down on a separate table.

"But don't be pushy," Naruto added on belatedly. "You start being aggressive about it, and I'll punch your face in. After Sakura does, of course."

"Pushy…you mean like how both you and Sakura were four or so years ago?"

"Pushy like a creepy old jounin dude, not pushy like "save our long lost teammate from a literal evil missing ninja and criminal organization," Sasuke," the blond reprimanded. "Don't be creepy pushy."

"I'm not asking her out again, Naruto." Sasuke put another dumpling in his mouth, chewing carefully.

"Look, even if there is another guy, he's probably sweet, but not as awesome as you," Naruto reassured him.

"Oh, there's definitely another guy," the Kumo civilian besides them said, chuckling. "The Hokage's apprentice? Konoha's Flower Princess? She's been seeing someone else for about a month now. Gossip's been gettin' around."

"Uh," Naruto said articulately. "It's not that serious, right?"

"Ask her yourself," the Kumo guy chuckled. Across from him, the Kumo woman giggled. Sasuke swept an eye over her dark hair and skin and snappy black eyes. She lowered her gaze shyly.

"Urgh," Naruto groaned. Sasuke let his sharingan flicker for a second, subtly, but nothing seemed amiss about the pair.

"Cake for the missus, gelato for the mister," the waiter announced to the Kumo couple. Sasuke deigned to ignore them and focused again on Naruto.

"It's probably not serious," his friend told Sasuke bracingly.

"Shut up, dead last," Sasuke said, and finished off his dumplings. Beside him, the Kumo man cracked a smirk and folded his napkin into a rose, offering it to the Kumo woman.


End file.
